It is known to process unfinished vehicle body parts to produce finished ready to use parts by thermoforming a decorative laminate to mold the laminate onto the unfinished surface of the body part.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,163 discloses a process for stretching the length of a foil of synthetic plastic to assure that the foil material remains wrinkle-free as it is applied to an underlying door panel. In particular, the specified tensioning method assures that the foil remains under tension until it is wrapped around the edge of a door panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,887 discloses a vehicle body coating composition which includes a uniformly dispersed pigment oriented by use of a chlorinated polyolefin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,745 discloses a method to tension a laminate of polyester material bearing a layer of metallic material both bonded to a substrate of PVC material. The tensioning occurs below the annealing temperature of the laminate and serves to strain the laminate to cause it to shorten upon reheating but to remain stable during shipping and storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,475 discloses a film of polyethylene terephthalate which is biaxially stretched to improve the physical characteristics of products such as magnetic tapes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,493,872 discloses prestretching plastic film to impart strength and toughness.
Other patents relating to polymer laminates with decorative features are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,660,200; 4,235,949; 4,330,352; 4,362,775; and 4,563,372.
None of the above references discloses a process for preforming the laminated structure in a manner which will control color hue appearance in the molded product.